Transforming down the decades and evolving with technology, the Oldham company is still deeply immersed in the local print industry.
Whilst the business still retains its skill in traditional bookbinding methods; nowadays, Dornans has evolved to become one of the premier suppliers of high end bespoke PoS and brochure production in the region. The remarkable history of this company is credit to its continuous transformation and willingness to stay abreast of technology – and the latest stage of the company’s success story is the recent acquisition of a Jetrix large format flat bed printer and also a DYSS X7 Digital Cutter from AG/CAD.
Conducting litho and digital printing for as long as the technology has been available, Dornans has now increased its large format digital capabilities. Having a print bed capacity of 2.4 by 1.7m and the ability to print straight to substrate, Dornans recognised the need for a high quality cutting solution to generate new revenue streams. As Dornans Managing Director, Mr Bill Bescoby comments: “We manufacture a diverse range of products from outdoor signs and PoS displays to free-standing display units (FSDUs) and packaging samples for all industry sectors. With such a broad customer base and service capability that extends from prototypes to production runs, the DYSS cutting table has opened up new markets for us.”
Mr Bescoby continues: “As a company, Dornans is an innovator that stays abreast of technology. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have such a rich and well established history. Before the arrival of the DYSS, we had to turn away projects like FSDU and complex POS jobs. Now we have the capability to cut, fold and score all types of designs from all types of materials.”
Dornans needed to justify the purchase of a cutting table and it couldn’t have envisaged the benefits that have come from acquiring the DYSS X7-1624C Superhead machine with its 3 cutting stations capable of cutting, creasing and routing. Firstly, the company wanted to reduce its reliance on platen production outsourcing and the inherent costs attached to this. At Dornans, a costly cutting forme would frequently be ordered for print runs over 50, whilst prototypes and small jobs under 50 prints would either be hand cut, outsourced to an external supplier or avoided completely. The lead times for both formes and outsourced cutting previously took upward of 2 days whilst hand cutting was labour intensive. By acquiring the DYSS, Dornans has slashed lead-times, gained full control over its processes without a reliance on external subcontractors.
As Mr Bescoby continues: “The DYSS has opened doors for us. We are cutting everything from corrugated board and displayboard for boxes and displays through to Aluminium and Foamex beyond 10mm thick for exhibition panels and external signage. This new capability is opening possibilities for us, but more importantly, we can win new business in new industry sectors by producing cost effective and fast turnaround prototypes and development projects. FSDUs are a good example of this.”
Complementing this rigid and precise package was the K-Cut Vision software. By installing the K-Cut software, Dornans can print datum points on its print runs that are visually located by the clever K-Cut camera system to deliver highly accurate cutting to print – all completely automatically.
Another important feature on the DYSS was a roll feeding facility for long runs of large format print. This has enabled Dornans to feed the DYSS with jobs straight from the Jetrix printer – enabling long unmanned production runs with an efficient through-flow of work.
Mr Bescoby concludes “We wanted outstanding service levels with no compromise. Since installing the machine 3 months ago, we’ve naturally had both technical and learning queries, and the telephone, on-line and call-out support has exceeded our expectations.”
